What now?
by emina88
Summary: A one-shot with two parts. Tony has realised something when Ziva has been away in Israel. He decides to pick her up from the airport and he is going to tell her. Please review! Now UPDATED with part 2.
1. Chapter 1

NCIS Fanfiction – **What now?**

By: Emina88

Tags: Tony and Ziva, Post Shiva.

Disclaimer: It would be neat if I owned NCIS but sadly I do not…

Summary: A one-shot with two parts. Tony has realized something when Ziva has been away in Israel. He decides to pick her up from the airport and he is going to tell her.

**What now?**

Part one.

It was Friday afternoon. The boss man had just let them go home, they had worked round the clock for three days and they all needed a break. On his way home Tony stopped at the good pizza place round the corner from his apartment. He went about his normal routine with pizza, cold beer and a DVD to watch but tonight he couldn't really focus on the film his mind kept coming back to one individual, his partner. She had been in Israel for the past week and she was on her way back tonight. He had received a couple of e-mails from her. She had written  
_"do not worry about me" _but how could he not? He was not with her to protect her. He knew that she could hold her own; she can easily change in to her crazy kick-ass Ninja mode when she wanted to but still he worried. He had realised a long while back that he couldn't live without her. His mind went back to Somalia _"What are you doing here? I couldn't live without you, I guess" _and more recently they had gotten closer. Opening up talking about stuff. It was hard but he was glad that it was her, he couldn't think of anyone better to talk about this stuff with.

A loud bang from the film jolted Tony back to reality. He took another piece of pizza before putting it down in the box again. He looked at his watch, still time, he had decided. He was going to pick her up from the airport. He HAD to see her, to talk to her. He turned off the TV and grabbed his car keys and quickly got out of his apartment.

He arrived at the airport. The plane was due to arrive in ten minutes. He walked towards the arrival area. When he got there they announced that the plane from Tel Aviv was delayed until further notice. Typical, Tony looked around what was he going to do now? His eyes stopped at a coffee shop and he thought to himself why not, a cup couldn't hurt! So he went there. He bought a cup of coffee and he sat down in one of the booths. His mind started to wander, he was not so sure if this was the right thing to do. Surprising her and telling her. What if it was too soon? What if she would push him away? At the same time he felt that he had to let her know. When he thought about it, it hadn't been all that surprising this had been building up for quite some time now. It would be alright.

He picks up a flyer from the table, turns it over and scribbles something on it.

The flight is finally arriving and Tony walks back to the arrival area and waits. People are starting to come out into the hall. He spots her, her hair is up in a ponytail and it swings back and forth as she walks. He holds up his own made sign that says 'Ms. David' and calls out for her. She stops in her tracks with puzzled look on her face. She looks around trying to figure out where her name was called out from. He says her name once more. She turns around and sees a sign with her name scribbled on to it and then she sees him. Ziva is shocked that it's him. She walks a couple of steps so she is out from the railing and Tony does the same so they are in front of each other. He says "Hi, welcome back." With a huge grin on his face.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I thought it was rather obvious? I'm picking you up from the airport."  
He grabs her suitcase from her hand and starts walking in the direction of his car. Ziva stands still for a while looking after him before she quickens her steps and catches up with him.

After five minutes in the car. Ziva says "You didn't have to come!" Tony looks at her before returning his eyes back to the road.  
"The polite thing to say is thank you" he says in an attempt to keep the chitchat light for the car ride.  
"Thanks" she says and then she looks out the window.  
"I know I didn't have to come but I wanted to, so I did." He can feel her smiling, just for an instant. He then goes back to talking about random stuff while Ziva drifts of to sleep. Tony notice when she doesn't answer him but he doesn't mind. She must be exhausted so he just lets her sleep for the rest of their journey. When they arrive outside of her apartment building he parks the car. He opens the trunk and gets her suitcase out then he opens the passenger door bending down a bit so that he is at the same height as her. He says her name. She doesn't wake up. He carefully brings his hand to her cheek, brushes it lightly and says her name one more time. She groggily awakes from her sleep.  
"Hello there sleepyhead! You slept well?" She just looks at Tony.  
"We are here" he states. She looks over his shoulder and sees her house.  
"Oh right" she gets out of the car. He grabs her suitcase again and carries it up the stairs. She gets her key out from her coat pocket and unlocks the door. She opens it and he hands over her bag.  
"So, you are now home safe and sound". She is in her doorway, on her way in, and she notice that he is not following her. She asks "Do you want to come inside?" He is silent for a short while and then he says  
"Yes, but I am going to go. Let you catch up on your sleep."

He turns around to walk away when she calls out his name "Tony!" He turns around as she walks up to him. "Thanks" She says and then she pulls him in to a hug. It feels nice. This reminds Tony of memories from their last hug, his emotions overwhelming him. This is not going as he planned it. When they release from their embrace he says "You're welcome" and then he walks away. Ziva watches him disappear as she thinks to herself _"What was that?!"_


	2. Chapter 2

Part two.  
_He chickened out_ he thinks to himself when he is in his car. _Why? He had an opportunity to tell her._ He sighed out loud, gave Ziva's apartment building a last look and drove off.  
He was going to give her some time...

The following day.  
Ziva woke up late, well rested. She really needed an early night and to catch up on some sleep. Today was Saturday and she had no plans, unless she got called into work but she doubted that. So she thought that she should use her free time to relax some more. She took a long warm shower, got dressed and went to the nearby farmers market to get some fresh food. When she got back she made a big breakfast and sat down in her living room, reaching for a book that was on the coffee table. She ended up reading for hours and somehow she drifted off to sleep on the sofa. She suddenly woke by an incoming text, she grabbed her phone and read the text  
"Got home safe? Missed you. Xx" it was from Abby. She typed in a quick reply. She was so thankful for the people in her life; her friends, her NCIS family. In the midst of her thoughts she heard a knock on the door. Ziva got up and she peeped through the peephole and saw him standing there. All of a sudden she felt nervous and she never got nervous, what was up with her?! It was just her partner at her door, it was not an unusual occurrence... She took a deep breath and opened the door and said "Hi".

Tony smiled at the sight, Ziva looked relaxed, her hair was down and her natural wavy curls draped around her gorgeous face. She was wearing comfy clothes and she looked absolutely amazing. He held out a take-out bag and said "I come carrying food". Ziva answered with an "Oh" and then she opened the door a bit more and motioned, encouraging him to step inside.

She walked in to the kitchen, gathering plates. Tony went ahead into the living room area and placed the food on the coffee table, opening the containers. He walked up to her TV set and drew his hand over the small collection of DVSs she had. Most of them were ones she borrowed or had gotten from him. He pulled out one of the DVDs and put it in the DVD player before he settled on the sofa.  
Ziva yelled from the kitchen "Do you want a beer?"  
He answered her "Yes" and short thereafter she appeared in the living room holding plates and two bottles of beer.  
"I took the liberty to choose a film for us to watch" he told her and she just smiled and answered "Of course you did" handing him one of the beer bottles. They watched the film and ate their food. Tony finished first and pushed his plate forwards while leaning backwards so his back leaned against the sofa. Ziva soon followed. Tony felt relaxed and happy, looking over at Ziva as he smiled. She of course noticed his staring, nothing could get passed her. "What is it?" she asked. Tony kept on smiling and said "Nothing, this just feels like old times".  
Ziva said nothing back she just adjusted her seat and came closer to Tony, leaning her head on his shoulder. Tony initially tensed up but soon relaxed and enjoyed the gesture as he thinks to himself _this was new..._  
They finished watching the film. Tony asks "Another film?" Ziva just nods her head. Tony got up picking up the plates and carried them into the kitchen putting them into the dishwasher.  
He came back in to the living room to see Ziva still in the same position looking up at him. The credits still rolling on the TV screen. He held her gaze and sat down next to her again. He feels the warmth coming from her body and the thought of him sitting this close to her gives him shivers. Ziva still just looks at him and it was Tony's turn to ask "What?!"  
She bits her bottom lip and replies "I was just thinking..." before stopping mid sentence.  
"About?" Tony fills in. He thinks he can see the wheels turning in her head, her mind going into overdrive. He says once more "About?"  
"I... I was thinking about when you picked me up from the airport yesterday and when you didn't want to come in here... And then today you show up here with food acting like that didn't happen."  
He interrupts her for a second, "I wanted to" he says.  
"What?"  
"I wanted to come in."  
"But you didn't. You just kind of left. Why?"  
He gulped. Ziva never left her eyes from Tony's and continued "It was you who said that the new post-elevator us doesn't keep secrets, we talk about stuff, right?"  
"Right." Tony took a deep breath closing his eyes while doing so, exhaling and looking at Ziva again.  
"I chickened out okay! I wanted to come in and talk and tell you something. But then I thought of all the reason why I shouldn't and I chickened out. It would be selfish of me to lay this on you at this moment, you have a lot on your plate as it is and and..."  
"Lay what on me?" Her eyes transfixed to his.  
"I missed you when you were away." Tony said simply.  
He could see the confusion in her eyes before she said "I missed you too. That was it? That was the thing you couldn't tell me?"  
He couldn't hold it in any longer, he had finally realised something and he wanted to say it, to let her know. "No, I also wanted to say that I am..." He paused for a second. Ziva held her breath.  
"I am in love with you Ziva David and I have been for some time now. I know this is a lot to handle and especially since the recent things with your dad and all but that made me realise it even more. I could not stop thinking about you and if you were safe while you were away and that I would not know what to do if you didn't get home safely. I love you and I want to protect you from all bad things and..."  
"Stop". He did as she asked, he stopped rambling. He has just belted his heart out to her, to his partner, his best friend, the love of his life and she doesn't feel the same way.  
Ziva doesn't say anything for a moment and she could see the absolute pain that Tony was feeling when she had stopped him. She didn't do this right. Tony had bowed his head looking down at his lap. Ziva reached out her arms and put her hands cupping his face pulling it towards her so he was looking at her again. She stopped for another second and then she leaned in to his lips. She placed soft tender kisses on his lips. She paused for a millisecond before pulling him closer and kissing him more eagerly and passionate. Tony parted his lisp leaving a small gap and Ziva took it as an invite to explore his mouth with her tongue. They kiss passionately for a while, not getting enough of each other, before they break apart to seek some air.  
Tony smirks and asks if this was a good sign?  
Ziva smiled too but didn't say anything she just pulled him close again and attacked his lips with hers. In between kisses she was able to let out a reply.  
"Yes. This. Is. A. Good. Sign. I. Kind of. Love. You. Too."

The end.


End file.
